Tehran, Oct 15, IRNA -- Head of Razi Research Institute Ali-Akbar
Mohammadi said here Sunday that value of the vaccine and serum
produced at the institute stands at dlrs 100 million a year but due to
the low price of the products, the institute earns rls 35 billion to
rls 40 billion annually.

Mohammadi told reporters that the institute meets the entire needs
of the country in livestock vaccine, 80 percent of the vaccines for
poultry and 85 percent of the vaccine for human beings. Annually 2.7
billion doses of vaccines, serums and antigens are produced at the
institute, he added.

Mohammadi said the institute exports its products to 21 countries.
More than dlrs one million worth of foreign orders were placed with
the institute last year. However, since the institute's priority is
to meet domestic needs, its exports stood at only dlrs 200,000, he
added.

He further stated that about 30 percent of vaccines produced at
the institute had been dispatched free of charge to Afghanistan,
Kenya, Albania, Azerbaijan and Tanzania last year.

The institute's products showed 42 percent growth in weight and
105 percent in value in the first half of the current Iranian year
(started March 21) compared to the corresponding period the year
before, said Mohammadi. He added that the value of the products rose
to rls 26 billion from rls 13 billion in the one-year period.

Mohammadi said dlrs five million is allocated every year for the
institute. However, he added, due to the lack of need for this amount,
the cash has not been fully absorbed. The institute spent dlrs 1.2
million last year on primary materials and rls 1.5 million on import
of required products and instruments, he added.

The institute produced vaccines for such diseases as mumps,
Newcastle disease and bird flu over recent years.